Orignally posted on Vivastic.com

In MUFFINS & MAYHEM, author Suzanne Beecher uses her quirky, homespun magic to transport the reader through her tumultuous journey from her childhood in the very small town of Cuba City, WI to single, drug addicted, teenage mother to successful businesswoman, mother, grandmother, and wife of her best friend. MUFFINS & MAYHEM is refreshingly humorous and honest, and a perfect summer read that celebrates food, friends, and family. I had a chance to chat with this inspirational woman about life, writing, recipes, and what does she think is the key to success?


Suzanne, I really enjoyed your book!
Thank you very much.

Did you ever think all of this would happen when you were going through your roughest life experiences?
The chapter “Loose Wires” in Muffins and Mayhem is really how my brain seemed to be functioning for a quite awhile in my life. When I was making crazy choices, I never even stopped and evaluated “How’s my life going?” I think a person gets used to the environment they grew up in and find it normal, and in my case, especially because I was an only child, I didn’t realize there was another, better, way. It sounds kind of strange, but the turning point in my life, when I finally learned and experienced another way to live, was when I married my husband, Bob. We’ll be married 33 years this December. I tell people that my husband kind of home-schooled me in the ways of life, which might not sound romantic. But when someone feels better about themselves, everything in life is better, including love.
I loved how you connected recipes to your favorite comfort foods to those monumental points in your life. Why do you think that food is always such a way to feel better when things aren’t so great?
Many of my fond memories, enjoyable times with family and friends, have centered around occasions when we got together and ate food. The handwritten recipe cards in my recipe box are from my Grandma Hale. When I’m following one of Grandma’s recipes, I feel she’s right beside me in the kitchen and the memories of big Sunday dinners at Grandma’s house make me feel loved.
I’ve never met you obviously, but I feel like I know you through your words. Also, the pics of you really just emanate sunshine and light! What do you think keeps you so positive?
Deep, down inside of me, there is a belief that I can dig in and make it through anything. I got that from my mother. We never had the kind of relationship that I’d wished for, but in watching my mother keep things together, working a job and “covering” for my father, who was an alcoholic, the determination in her spirit was passed on to me. I’ve been able to take that trait and mix it with love and joy in my life. Unfortunately, my mother was only able to experience a little slice of that kind of joy the last two years of her life, when she’d remarried.
You had your first child while you were still in high school. What words of advice would you give to your teenage self?
I don’t think there are any words or lectures, that can reach a teenager to make them change their behavior and the choices they’re making in life and love. But I do feel strongly that parents, grandparents, and even the neighbor down the street, can make a huge impact on how a teenager feels about him or herself. Getting involved in a kid’s life, allowing them to feel loved and cared for, and giving them a safe place to come and talk about what’s on their minds, I believe those sorts of things ‘can’ make a huge difference. When a kid has learned how to love and respect themselves, they make better choices.
You’ve managed to start a business, a publication, a blog, and somehow have been able to come up with these amazingly delicious recipes. How do you do it all?
I’m one of the lucky ones, I love my work. I try not to sign up for things in life that I know aren’t a good match for me—things that aren’t going to bring me joy. I don’t want to suggest I’m living in a Pollyanna mindset, even though I am a huge Mayberry fan. I would work any job and do whatever was necessary to pay the bills. But even jobs like washing dishes, which I’ve had in the past, I’ve tried to find ways to make a boring job enjoyable. I have choices in life. I can choose to be happy even in the midst of a crummy situation. I moan and groan about work occasionally, like everyone. But at this point in my life I do my darndest to steer clear of things that don’t bring me joy.
So wise! When you talk about your husband being your best friend and lover, I think that it’s amazing how you both support each other. What’s the secret to a healthy, long relationship/marriage?
A desire to want our marriage to work, I think is the biggest key. We support each other in whatever new things we want to try. We work together every day, yet amazingly we have very few arguments and when we do, there’s an escape clause we’ve agreed on ahead of time to bring us back to our senses. “I don’t want to argue with you, can we rewind and start the day over again, right now, this very minute?” And then of course, because I’m so crazy, head-over-heels in love with “my guy” it makes marriage one of the gifts in my life.
You’ve said that one of your goals in life is to be approachable and you’ve definitely done that. You’ve taken all the supposed “mistakes,” in your life and made it into something really inspirational. How did you make lemonade from lemons?
Even in the midst of frightening situations in life, or when I’m feeling lost, even though the tears might be falling, and I’m so very afraid, “I know that I know, I am doing what I was called to do in life. If the worst happened and I lost it all or I found myself alone, I would accept that it was the experience I was suppose to have at that moment. My relationship with God isn’t “churchy” and I don’t know much for sure, but I do know that I’m not alone in this journey.
Anything else you’d like to accomplish in life as you’ve already accomplished so much?
I’ve never really planned too far down the road in life, (as you can tell from reading my book.) I try my best to get up every morning and see what opportunities are waiting for me. And I spend a lot of time fixing Suzanne, so I always make slower progress than I’d like. But if I think I’m interested in something, I start thinking about it—kind of putting it out there for the universe. A few years ago, I wanted to become a better storyteller. A couple of months after I started thinking about it, an author friend, who corporations hire to teach them how to tell stories about their products, called out of the blue, and I got “Storytelling Lessons for a Writer 101” over the phone.
Last meal on earth?
Macaroni and cheese with my grandchildren. I hope I’m giving them the kind of memories my Grandma and Grandpa Hale gave to me.
Words of inspiration/advice for our readers?
Most of my joy comes from the little things in life. I was grateful for a long red light the other day, otherwise I would never had noticed a man pushing a baby carriage. I could see as he walked in front of my car, there was a little baby girl inside of the carriage. After the man crossed over to the other side of the street, and was safely on the curb, daddy bent over to check on his little bundle of joy. And the smile on his face told me he must have been reassuring his daughter that he loved her, and would always be there to watch over her.

I spend a lot of time working on trying to keep myself feeling grounded. Yet, some days worrying about the future consumes too much of my thoughts. Being privileged to share this father/daughter moment reminded me that if I want to ease my spirit and find peace, instead of worrying about what’s down the road, maybe what I’m looking for is right in front of me.

Thanks for your time, Suzanne. For more information on Suzanne or “Muffins on Mayhem,” please click here.

Are you guys keeping up with the NBA Playoffs? Wow..its getting down to the wire and I personally would love to see the LA Lakers face off against the Boston Celtics. A perfect East vs. West match-up. Well, I read up on Paul Pierce of the Boston Celtics and was kinda inspired by him. So, I wrote a post for Manolith about how Paul Pierce stays motivated.

I’ve been an athlete for almost my entire life whether it was as a runner, swimmer, or lacrosse player. I was super hard on myself because I have a Type A personality and NEVER MADE THE VARSITY TEAM. Why did I boldface that?

Well, I’m dramatic (Shocking) and thought my life would be over if I wasn’t Varsity on all the teams. I had an awful swim team coach in high school who would say the rudest/borderline Racist things to me.. probably because she wanted me to quit. Well, I didn’t quit in the middle of the season (though I REALLY WANTED TO) because I didn’t want to be a quitter. Granted, when it came to being on the team the following season, I had no desire to do so.

Yet, when I became a runner, I felt free when running miles on the track or just on the treadmill. Running felt like a way for me to race against myself and its a race that you’ll never win, but you’ll always just keep aiming for a goal.

Wherever you are in your life, I hope that you find something that motivates you to be the best that you can be. If you have haters like my former swim coach, you can just ignore them and keep it moving.

Holla.

So… I attend a pretty amazing church here in Los Angeles, and its probably the one thing that has kept me sane since first moving here three years ago. It’s just so positive, non-judgmental and when you leave, you really feel better about your purpose in life. Because let’s be real, when you’re not a native Los Angeleno, it can be quite scary when you first get here.

Usually, you’ll see all the bright lights and glamour of Sunset Boulevard and then Hollywood Boulevard. Then you’ll look to one side and see several homeless people who look as though they came to this city with a suitcase and a dream. But then, I guess, life got in the way.

I stopped writing about the Unemployment rate and all the current negative things that are happening because I like to think my blog is a positive, fun, random, and humorous page. Oh, and inspirational. You can read about all the depressing stats on all the other News blogs, but when you visit this page, I hope that you get something out of it. Even if its a laugh at my expense. Trust me, people have been making fun of me my whole life, so I really don’t care so much anymore. The only difference is that I have good come-backs now!!! This is from years of my brother and his friends picking on me. haha.

Anyway, in these rough times, I hope that you keep the faith whether you’re at a job that you dislike, you’re unemployed, struggling with bills, or trying to figure out how to stay positive when things are just difficult in your life. Whether you’re rich or poor, times are tough these days. What I’ve learned is that you have to grateful for what you have, be good to your loved ones, friends, and family, and just try to wake up each morning with positive, thankful thoughts.

It’s really hard, I know. But once you train yourself to do this, it becomes second nature. Plus smiling is free, and it makes you look hot. Seriously. And to end this post, I wanted to show you a pic of myself when I was a kid in these really trendy stretch pants. Plus, this is my fam during Christmas in New York City. All I remember was that I thought these stretch pants were the greatest things in the world and would wear them everywhere. I seriously thought that everyone was jealous of me because I had these stretch pants. LOL!!!

ME AT 7 YEARS OLD: Um…my trendy flower stretch pants are awesome and like, you can’t have them.

MY BROTHER: You’re an idiot.

Have a good week.

My interview series has allowed me to meet some really cool, smart, kick-ass people. Usually we’ll e-mail, and then we’ll meet up. Both of us will look to see if the other person is a crazy weirdo. If we both decide that we’re not freaks, then we decide to become blog friends. Blog buddies. Word up.

Anyway, I met Cameron Anthony Park through a fantastic site called LINKEDIN, and we’ve been friends ever since. He knows two very hot Fields as he works in the New Media Division of a prestigious Talent Agency here in La La Land.  You may have noticed the merging of the two in recent years and it’s only going to become even more entwined as time progresses. But I’ll shut up now and without further ado, I introduce to you…Cameron Anthony Park.

Cam! What’s the word? Where are you from?

Though I was born in Seoul, Korea. I moved to Los Angeles when I was four and consider myself a native Angeleno. By the way, true Angelenos are some of the coolest, down to earth, honest people in the world. It’s the jackass transports from all the other states who come here and act a fool thinking that’s how Angelenos are supposed to be that has f’ed up the image of the true LA peeps from “La-La Land”.

I’m one of those jackass transports. We met on the Internet. That sounds naughty but its not. So, you’re an Internet guy right? Where do you work?

I lead two very distinct, quasi-secret lives. By day I work (under a pseudonym) at a talent agency as a studio manager for the voice over department. With the help of another talent director and three full time assistants, we audition and manage an average of 150-200 voice over auditions daily to send out to ad agencies, tv/film producers, video game producers, trailer and promo producers, basically anyone who needs a voice for their projects. I initially fell into the job not even realizing that such an aspect of the business existed. Just think about everything that uses a voice:

-radio commercials,
-TV commercials,
-video games,
-all those cartoons on cartoon network, Nickelodeon, kids WB, Toon Disney, PBS etc.
-animated straight to DVD films
-Pixar, Dreamworks animation films.
-ADR
-trailers with the “In a world… where one man… against all odds” voices.
-those annoyingly, highly caffeinated voices for network and cable stations that go: “Tonight on an all new ‘Desperate Housewives’! One of the housewives gets naughty…Only on ABC!”,
-the narrators on all those cable documentaries,

this is just the tip of the iceberg. voices are everywhere.

However, outside of my “day job,” I lead a somewhat different life plotting to be at the forefront of this impending marriage of traditional and “new media” sectors. I truly love and am fascinated and challenged by this emerging sector everyday. I believe that we’re at the pre-genesis of what all this “internet/entertainment/education/interactivity” hybrid can truly be. Within the mixed bag of these incredible, relatively new technologies and traditional good old fashioned storytelling lies the right combination of skills and opportunities to really become the next generation of multimedia ppowerhouses. Think about it: Google, Facebook, Yahoo, Youtube, ebay … even further back Microsoft and Mac … these weren’t companies that were created by some huge corporations (although eventually they ended up as such). They were all started off by a couple of really smart, hard working individuals. I’m telling you that creating new media content is actually much easier than coding the algorithm for a search engine like Google. You don’t need a crew of hundreds anymore to create film, TV, or media content. Some kids are already doing some incredible stuff under the radar. It’s just a matter of time before you hear of some kid literally making the next Star Wars from his home computer, by himself. You need to be smart and work harder than anyone else. You need to be willing to learn stuff beyond just your job.

How so?

You need to be willing to work hard and learn new skills. I purposely left out “passion” because that’s an immature word made for fools who are looking to win the lottery. What’s “passion” other than a synonym for the term “like.” I was passionate in college. Now I use that energy and time to make stuff. More importantly, passion doesn’t get any tangible shit done. Intelligence and hard work gets the content made. Leave the “passion” for the cheerleaders on the sidelines.

It’s the same in my day job. Yes, there are those “lottery” actors who book the occasional jobs here and there based more on luck than any skill. But the truly, consistently successful actors are always the ones who work the hardest and are the ones who study it. Sure they act like they’re so above it all and “doing it for the art” BS in front of their peers. But make no mistake about it, when their competition isn’t watching, the successful actors all reinvest in their careers by taking new courses, learning new skills, rebuilding their demos, sending out marketing eblasts, etc.

How did you get involved in New Media?

In the last four years I’ve gone from not knowing the difference between HTML, css, ajax, php, etc. to having produced a fairly successful, pioneering cooking web video series, producing several interactive websites for high profile clients, to maintaining what I think is a fairly interesting blog (www.CameronAnthonyPark.com), to writing, directing, and being in pre-production for a couple of really cool projects that I am friggin’ hyper-excited about. Like I said, I love so many aspects of how all the programming languages and promise that computer sciences and the internet brings, and when that combines with the creative and fun potential of some really cool content to the masses, it’s gonna be the beginning of something incredible. I just wish there was more time! =)

Passion versus Persistence. Your thoughts?

I’ll share this with you: even though one of the last things I’d want to be again is a talent agent (I was one for the same company a couple of years ago before I left and came back) I do value the experience because dealing with actors, creatives, producers, and personalities all day for so long I truly got a solid understanding of what separates the successful people from the “dreamers” and “passion only” people. Where the latter spend their days and nights dreaming and being passionate about what they want to do, the former group spend that time actually working on stuff. It’s not that one set of people are any more talented, creative or “true” to their arts, it’s just that you have those who want to act, write, etc. and those who just do it.

And the beauty of the current times is that there is this incredible platform and distribution outlet to do it with now. More people watch Youtube daily than all the networks combined. You have the exact same way to get your content on that platform as any major multi media corporation. So you need to get found? Find a way.

True, there is still the debate about compensation and how traditional media is still the only ones making any real money from advertisement. If you want to produce content, don’t worry about that now. Just work on producing content that other people want to see and the money, accolades, sponsorships, TMZ blurbs, etc., will follow.

What made you want to start your own blog? How big are you on Social media/social networking?

Much like an earlier idol of mine (seven time grand slam winner: John McEnroe) I find myself quite often fueled by anger. That doesn’t mean that I lash out at anyone or pull a Chris Brown on anyone (seriously that bastard went from becoming the modern day Michael Jackson to becoming a verb synonymous with beating down chicks… “No Air” is still a bad ass song no matter what.) So going back to the cooking web series I co-founded a few years back, my partners and I had a falling out and after a few weeks of strategizing and life pondering, I decided that I really loved this mysterious new media sector that I sort of fell into. So I wanted to learn as much about it as I could. Simultaneously I also wanted to see if I could start a blog to perhaps rival or surpass the traffic of my former partners (although my blog would have hardly anything to do with cooking). In under six months I had found my answer to be a resounding “yes”.  I love the fact that I am the only person I need to answer to there. I mean, at a year old now, the blog is still at it’s infancy. I have plans to add so much more original content there: audio, video, animation, etc. And since it’s so cheap to maintain with endless potential, I don’t see any reason to stop other than lack of time.

Are the actors you work with familiar with social marketing/social networking? Or do you have to spoonfeed them?

As far as the other social media tools go, I’m on most of the better known ones but I gotta say everyone in my field of business (young and old alike) are still getting the hang of the Facebook thing. I’m constantly amazed to hear that of all the actors that come through our offices everyday, 19 out of 20 people still haven’t even heard of twitter or digg or technorati or friendfeed (a personal favorite of mine) or even skype. I’m constantly begging my 23 year old co-workers to get a skype account already. They’re like:

Them:”Dude, what the fuck is skype? is that like myspace? cause I don’t like myspace. I have a facebook account with a bunch of pictures of me with my friends, girls, gargoyles and celebrities. can I friend you?”

Me: “No village idiot. it’s not like myspace exactly… wait, did you just say that you had pictures of gargoyles? and no, I won’t accept your facebook friend add because if I friend you, facebook says that my IQ drops like ten points automatically for friending such a dumbass.”

Them: “Nah uh. really? (beat) dude, does facebook really keep track of your IQ? that’s scary!”

Me: No dude, You’re scary.

Anyway, I’m very aware of these offered tools (many of which I use on my own blog) but it has yet to reach my circle of audience so I’ve yet to really benefit much from them yet. But I’m still learning.

HAHA.  I love that conversation.  Funny stuff. Tell us about a typical day in your life? What are some annoying things that Voice actors do that just get under your skin?

My “day job” day consists of three distinct sections: 1) put out fires from the day before. 2) direct and manage the fires of today. 3) prepare enough so that there are less fires tomorrow. Whenever you have any office situation where you’re dealing with so many different personality types who are all vying for attention, it rarely goes as planned. It really is often times like what one might imagine a daycare center to be like. Everyone wants attention, everyone wants to be treated better than the person next to them, everyone wants you to look over at them and see what they’re doing. You’re constantly asking people to stop acting like a child and behave themselves. Then there are those assholes who think they’re the next Pacino or DeNiro and want to be on every single audition: “I can play 20. I can play 65. I can play a frenchman. I can play as a Seth Rogen soundalike. I can play a Rachel McAdams soundalike. I can be Korean. I can be Portuguese.” — this is all said by one actor… who is a 46 year old NY native with a heavy ass Brooklyn accent… who I’m not entirely sure isn’t slightly illiterate. Besides, even Pacino and DeNiro couldn’t do all those characters and you, the guy who guested as a glorified extra on one episode of Without a Trace, you think you’re more versatile than Pacino and DeNiro? You can’t even pronounce “forget about it” as three separate words, you gaffon!

Dude, you’re funny.  So, what’s your life mantra?

I don’t know yet. If you hear of any good ones, let me know. Maybe: “Work hard. Play hard. Try to be good. Learn something. Do something.” Is that even a mantra?

Close enough.  So, what would you say to someone reading this who has no idea about starting a blog, the Web, or anything related to social media? What kind of advice would you give them?

Just do it. If you’re a writer, write. If you’re an actor, put your ass in front of the camera, perform a Shakespeare monologue and post that shit up. Better yet, recite a Shakespeare monologue dressed up as a hot music video pole dancer. Surprise the world and challenge their expectations. I’d like to see that. Whatever you do don’t go around preaching about your passion, dreams and desires. Show me what you got instead. That’ll do a much better job of expressing your passion and dreams than any BS song and dance that begins with: “I’m really passionate about acting, writing, etc.” So is everyone else in this town. Now that we’ve established that, show me something that you have that they don’t.

Frank. Honest. With a few rambles.  Thanks Cam for your take on the wonderful world of New Media and Voice actors.  Check out more of his funny words at www.cameronanthonypark.com

You can “Read a post, Get Happy, Maybe learn something”

You know, I used to hate when people would tell me, “It’ll all make sense later,” when you’re asking them about why certain things are happening and what you’re supposed to do.

I always thought it was so condescending and annoying, but I really think it’s one of the truest statements about life.  Life tosses you all these obstacles and decisions that you need to make, and it’s up to you to figure out how to deal.

At my previous job, I used to always wear headphones and listen to music or youtube while I worked.  It was the one thing that kept me sane because I felt like the creative part of me was being fed through music, comedy videos and inspirational speeches.  I think I listened to the below video of Steve Jobs Stanford Commencement Speech about 342 times.

I actually counted. No joke.  But it’s so odd because the first part of the speech really relates to my life now.  He talks about how he dropped out of Reed College and tried to figure out what to do with his life. So he slept in his friends’ rooms and took a calligraphy class.

He says, “You can’t connect the dots looking forward, you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in the future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.”

This is sort of the reason why I made the leap to be doing what I’m doing now.  I think I brainwashed myself by listening to this speech so many times.  Is that possible?

I had never worked at a start-up before starting work at docstoc, and there was a time when I literally was working three jobs at once; Office manager, Community Manager, and Press/Blogger Outreach. It was very stressful because I was pushing myself so hard in the Office and then going home to write at night.  As I’ve noted before, I’m not a web developer and technology used to frighten me, so when I’d attend meetings where all that was discussed was numbers/metrics, I’d promptly shut down.  That’s not how I think.  You see, I tend to connect with people, stories, and how to help people either by making them laugh at my expense or just trying to tell them an inspirational story.

I think that the one aspect of my job that kept me going was that I was able to interact with the Community, you know, actual members of the site who would e-mail me supportive comments about my work on the site, or just how they were helped by the documents on the site.

If you told me at age 10 that I would be work as a Community Manager, I probably would’ve given you a weird look.  Anyway, there was this huge community of people from across the world that would e-mail me on a daily basis with comments/feedback, supportive words, weird comments, and of course people who just needed an answer to a quick question.

I actually thrived on this because I enjoy helping others. It makes me really happy to see that I can do something to help someone out or make their lives easier.

Last summer, one particular user, an American soldier stationed in Iraq named Scott Darley, reached out to me and told me that the site helped him create his own business in the Iraqi desert. This was his exact quote,

“I’m in the middle of the desert in Iraq and ended up starting a company because of Docstoc.”
I had been doing press outreach for a while and was searching for a compelling story when I got his e-mail in my in-box. We kept correspondence for the months that followed and he let me know about his dreams in Iraq, how he wanted to come back to the States and start a business, and also about how he stays positive in Iraq. The thing that struck me the most about Scott is that he was so POSITIVE!!!

I would look forward to each e-mail that I would receive from him because it made me see that even amidst a situation where a soldier is far away, ready to fight, he was still thinking about positive thoughts and how he was planning his future when returning to the States.

I think that people across this nation could learn a lot from Scott because you should always live in the moment, smile, be positive, but also have a set plan for the future.  The key is to move forward, even if it is just one step.  Again, even though I’m no longer at Docstoc, I’d have to say that the Community of users that have e-mailed me, sent me humorous and positive words, and even the ones who would e-mail me everyday with an inappropriate comment (Umm.. yeah, I should’ve kept a record of these) really just made my experience as a Community Manager, one that I’ll always remember.

Oh, and last but not least, Serena Ehrlich, who actually was the last piece of the puzzle for getting this story out there, has gotten Scott’s story on CNBC. I believe that it airs tonight. Or here’s his website where you can watch his interview.
Or you can watch the story on the CNBC Website.

Scott’s time in Iraq inspired him to start a lingerie store. Hey he says, “Make love, not war.” Holla.

Okay, so on my bucket list, I have it written that I’d like to be a cartoon. Well, I can officially cross that off the list because I’ve been animated as a crazy character named “Lisa,” whose ex-boyfriend’s name is Acid. Enough said. Oh, and she wears tube tops and has pink hair.

Anyway, this weekend I took the boyfriend with me to a Burbank screening of “Clubhouse Chronicles,” and this particular short entitled “Lovesick,” was written/directed/animated by Turner and Ted Lange. The entire short film takes places at various points at a house party from diferent characters points of views. It was hilarious and the screening was packed with a bunch of people… Kick ass job, you guys.

Here’s the excerpt for “Lovesick.”

Clubhouse Chronicles: Lovesick (excerpt) from Project Clubhouse on Vimeo.

And here are a few more words with the talented director Turner Lange, just in case any of you reading this have creative ideas of your own that you’d like to pursue and need some wise words.

What exactly is Clubhouse Chronicles?
Basically a little under a year ago my brother and I moved back to Los Angeles from New York. After being frustrated artistically and creatively, we decided to call up a few of our friends and see if they were feeling the same way. As fate would have it they were, so we started meeting once a week to try and figure out what we could accomplish if we really pooled our skills and talent together which is what the clubhouse chronicles is a product of.

How did you come up with the idea to write “Lovesick?” Did you actually experience this at a house party?
I wouldn’t say I’ve experienced it directly. The idea came from the ending really, I won’t reveal it here but I thought it would be really funny to have it end the way it does, and then I kinda worked backwards from there, building everything on the front end to really accentuate that final moment when *you know what* happens.

Secrets. Secrets..haha..I LOVED being animated… I always wanted to be a cartoon. You’ve made my dream come true… what’s your secret?
A magician never tells.

Aw, come on. So, as a writer/director/animator, what projects do you want to work on? What keeps you inspired/laughing?
The kind of stuff I want to work on is anything inspiring. I’m a big fan of finding ideas to examine, illustrate, and share with people. I think that’s part of the reason for wearing so many different “creative” hats because each idea deserves it own unique form of expression and that’s part of the fun of making this stuff is seeing how close you can get it to the way it was when it first popped into your head. And seeing if you can convey that same idea to an audience. As for stuff I find inspiring I’m a huge fan of Jonathan Glazer. That’s someone whose stuff I’m always in awe of and any of the older Disney films (anything from the nine old men makes me feel really inspired and totally useless all at the same time). As for what keeps me laughing…Old episodes of the Larry Sanders show and Spaced.

Old Disney movies are bomb. So, everyone at the screening loved it! What’s next for “Clubhouse Chronicles?”
We’re going to put it out there for a Film festival tour. And really just steam roll into the next slate of film projects. Part of what we’re trying to accomplish with this stuff is hopefully provide an artistic forum for artists, actors, writers, and directors to express themselves and exchange ideas. I’m a big fan of art collectives and being an artist myself I find many times the best ideas are generated when you are surrounded by other like minded creative types.

Love it. And the most important question…can you make me a cartoon again?
It would be my pleasure.

SWEET!

Critics have reviled it, but Tyler Perry’s, “Madea Goes to Jail,” has been number 1 at the box office for two weeks in a row. In tough Economic times, it seems as though Americans want to watch the crazy antics of Madea instead of more serious fare. But the true story of Tyler Perry’s rise to success comes down to one thing…Faith. Faith in God. Faith that one day he would achieve his goals. Faith can be a difficult thing, but you learn to strengthen your faith by just letting go of things. For me, I trust in God which gets me through the day. And when you hear stories like Tyler’s, you really have to believe in a higher power, you know?

You may know about “Change this,” which was originally started by marketing guru, Seth Godin, and its mission statement is to spread ideas about positive change.  One of my favorites is “How to Be Creative,” by Hugh Macleod as well as “The Bootstrapper’s Bible,” by Seth Godin.

I feel humbled that my proposal was chosen to be made into a manifesto, and here are a couple of drawings I made for it. I think its going to be published in April…obviously I’ll keep you posted.

Right now, there are a bunch of people in this country and world that are going through tough times and are probably thinking, “Wow, this totally sucks.”  I hope my manifesto makes them laugh or at least look at things in a more positive light.

Music is my life.  Well, part of it.  It’s how I deal with life, the ups, downs, and everything else in between.  I’m not sure that I could wake up in the morning without hearing some Mozart, Tupac, or some other fantastic piece of musical work.

I saw this trailer for “The Soloist,” starring Robert Downey Jr. as LA Times journalist, Steve Lopez, and Jamie Foxx, as Nathaniel Ayers Jr, a homeless Schizophrenic man who has lost his art and his path in life.  This is a true story, and it was one of the most touching trailers I’ve seen in a long time. (And I’ve seen a ton)  I cannot wait to see this film about the uplifting power of music and how it can lift anyone up, no matter how down on their luck they may be.   Fab. (BTW, I want to meet Jamie Foxx. Apparently, he has karaoke parties at his house. UM… I’m there)